Is this the Right Position for me?

If you are waking up every morning contemplating whether or not you want to call in sick or not – it might be time for a new position or even a career change. This can be a scary thought to have because you do not know where to even start at.

Continue reading to see my tips for making starting the process of getting a new position or changing your career field as non-stressful as possible.

Don’t Quit Your Job Before you Find a New One

Not to be rude or anything, but this is a no brainier. I wouldn’t advise anyone to leave a position. I fully believe that you have to do what is best for you and your situation. Worrying about money is one of the most stressful things to go through, especially if you leave your job with nothing lined up. If you are comfortable with the situation, perhaps you can make it work.

Dig Deeper

There are reasons why you are not happy in the position or career, so you have to ask yourself why is that. What occurred to make you unhappy? What don’t you like? There are also going to be some things that you did like about the position so you want to make a list of both the good and the bad about the position. If you don’t know exactly what is wrong then you can’t expect to successfully change it.

Suggestion: Get a note book specifically for the task of looking for a new position. The first page should be a list of the pros and con of the position that you are in.

Do Your Research

If you don’t know what position or career you want to go in you have to do research and ask yourself these questions

Does the role exist?

Are there people or companies you would love to work for?

Are your skills transferable?

Do you have to go back to school for this change?

Would you take a pay cut?

Would relocate for the position?

What motivates me?

What really makes me tick?

What type of culture do I want to work in?

Can I be flexible with the hours?

What is the natural progression of this new role?

Doe you know anyone you can contact about it?

What do I ultimately want in a career/position and what steps do I need to do to get there?

If you notice that there are a couple self-evaluation questions, because you have to be in a good head space if you are the real reason that you are not happy in your position.

After you’ve taken the time to physically see everything written out – you will be able to determine:

There are a lot of things you like about your job, the bad was just blocking it

There are some aspects of your job that you like and some you don’t you just have to talk to your manger/supervisor to find out to move on to a new opportunity

You really are in the wrong position/career, especially if 70% of it are things that you are responsible for

Suggestion: This should be another page in your notebook so that you have all your questions to ask right there so you can refer to your responses.

Network Network Network

I do believe that sometimes it’s about who you know that will get you in the position that you want – it can be a case of knowing them on a personal level or networking and meeting them. Networking has evolved over the years, especially with technology being advanced as it is. LinkedIn is a great source of networking with people in positions or companies that you want to be in. If you aren’t comfortable networking via a “social” media site and prefer the traditional way of networking, networking events where you swap business card (a personal business card not your current company) with the possibility of meeting in person to pick their brains about the position and/or company.

Suggestion: If you do face to face networking, ask for business cards and keep them all together so you can reach out to them in the future.

Stay Positive!

This will be a time consuming process and you will hear no’s and you will question whether you are doing or not you are making the right decision. Dismissing your inner demons can be a challenge, but you have to dig deep inside of your self to find positive thoughts. Positive affirmations help with keeping the positivity. You’d be amazed at how great it feels to start your day with positive thoughts and continue that throughout the day, as needed. There are also some people that do not bring positivity to your life, so it may be necessary to only tell them what is going on with you so you don’t have that negative perspective.

Congratulate yourself for taking the first steps in researching on how to be happy in your position/career. Trust the process, it will be difficult but well worth it when you are signing an offer letter.